The Wyvern Effect
by Faermage-KH Junkie
Summary: Krystal Shardae Cobriana is a wyvern living in the modern era. Many hundreds of years ago, the humans killed off most of the shifters and force them into hiding. Now someone has found out about their existence. T. No flames. R&R. Not as AU as it seems.
1. Chapter 1: Krystal Wyvern

A/N: Hello, Faer here with a story for one of my FAVORITE book series of all time. When I started writing this, I hadn't read Wolfcry, and when I finally found it and picked it up, my dreams of this fic being as I'd originally hoped fell and shattered. When I picked up Wyvernhail a few days ago, I was prepared to stamp the AU label on it and toss it to a crowd who wanted pure Atwater-Rhodes. As I continued, my hopes fell further, even with the changes I made, the alterations that will come up in later chapters.

However, I finished Wyvernhail about five minutes ago (literally) and I am happy to say it will not be as AU as I thought. In fact, it may not even be AU at all - depends on your POV. Well, read, enjoy, and don't forget to review!

* * *

**The Wyvern Effect**

A long time ago, they say, the Wyverns' magic burned them. That their unbalanced fire eventually burned them up, and that any child who showed the signs of having the mixture was pitied, brought up like a queen, then put to death when their magic showed. That stopped long ago with a wyvern child of my bloodline, who, days before the birthday that would mark her death, sought an answer, and found it. None know what she found, this late in time, but we who still live are a testament to that. They tell me that it stopped long ago. That there is no need to fear.

But still, I do fear. I fear the magic, that which I have never known. That which sets me apart even more from those we must pretend to be.

For hundreds of years, we wyverns, along with our avian and serpiente kin, lived undisturbed. The frail humans who were our ancestors left us alone, content to live within their own lands. Then came an age of expansion which has lasted to the present time, and they began to hate and fear us.

The wars lasted for many years, until we had to go into hiding and make them forget.

Once my family ruled, lived like royalty.

Now all we do is govern a secret race pretending to be human.

My name is Krystal Shardae Cobriana, direct descendant of Oliza Shardae Cobriana, the first wyvern. Rightful heir to the throne of once-glorious Wyvern's Court, to two nations that were strong and proud.

Rightful heir to a valley that now only contains rubble, to a dying people pretending to be dead.

I dream, sometimes, of what can only be the Court. The avians wearing their beautiful wings, the serpents dancing in the halls. The market with the design painted on the stone road, an ancient rune combining _alistair_ and _ahnleh_, all the fascinating people wearing the garb of ancient times. A place that we hope will never be found by humans searching for insights into the past.

Technology has come far since then, the creation of all the things we think so commonplace - cars, television, computers - and yet humans are still the same, so distrusting of others unlike them. They are not ready to remember us, my mother has said.

She is probably right.

* * *

"You okay, Krystal?" a voice asked me from the bus seat next to me. "I mean, you look pretty depressed. School today was rough, but Dork-o and Pea-brain've never got you this worked up before."

My human friend Kari snapped me out of my silent reflection on our past. I shook my head, my long brown hair rippling a bit. Most of my kind keep it that way, to hide the feathers that grow on our necks.

I prefer not to think of the ones who go with the other option.

"It's nothing, Kari. Thinking of today's Global Issues lesson makes me depressed."

She nodded. "Yeah. I mean, they've found evidence of whole other species of human ancestors - ancestors that we killed off. Why can't we just get along?"

"Beats me. Maybe there'd be whole other races of humanity, like those elves you like to read about, if we could." Actually, there were whole other races of humanity, but my parents had forbidden me to say anything about them to her. I thought Kari deserved to know, bu they're convinced she's going to tell someone.

"Yeah, that'd be awesome. And we'd unite to fight an evil sorcerer or a despotic emperor or something."

See why I like Kari?

I laughed. "Maybe. Or maybe we'd share learning, come to understanding. Bring everyone together. One of my ancestors was supposed to have been a great queen, you know."

"Oh?" she asked as if she'd never heard this before.

"Family legend says she ended a war by marrying the lord of the opposing people - a lord that she had come to learn to love."

"Soooo romantic," she sighed. "It's your stop," she said. I laughed.

"Our stop today," I reminded her. "We're going to have you playing like a pro."

"Oh, horrors," she said in mock fear. Then, more seriously, "Are you sure I can do this?" she asked. "I mean, it's not like my family has been doing this for hundreds of years."

"Thousands," I corrected with an evil grin, guiding her off the bus. "If you're good, I'll even teach you a few dance steps." This elicited a shocked, then malicious expression.

"Ha, ha, very funny. You know my mother would never let me." The traditional dance of my father's people was done in clothes that Kari's very proper parents would most definitely not approve of. The school talent show had only allowed them because I was going to wear the most conservative ones possible… and they were a tradition. I had goaded Kari into learning the traditional flute music that went with the serpent's dancing (mainly because she was very good at the American flute), but her parents would never allow her to dance.

(insert line break)

When I opened the door and yelled we were home, my mother came downstairs and said, "Your father's out at the moment, something urgent came up. Oh, hello Kari." My mother smiled, a beautiful sight. "I'm sorry, but you'll just have to endure one of my meals until Daren comes back."

"No problem, Mrs. Cobren," she replied. (Most humans call us Cobren, because we can't exactly call ourselves the Cobriana and be inconspicuous.) "Your meals are heavenly, and that's no joke." Kari bowed, and my mother bowed politely back. We sat down to eat, and a little while later, my father came back in. A true product of the Cobriana line, his hair was black as ebony, and his eyes red like garnets. The latter he explained as a genetic fluke. My own gold eyes did sometimes glow red, but only in the heat of my anger, or when taking my cobra form.

"Ah, Kari, it's nice to see you. Are you ready to begin your lesson in the flute?" he said, nodding to my friend.

She looked a little nervous, but bravely replied, "Yes, sir!"

"Well, then," I said, "let's get at it!"

We went down to our basement, which was, unbeknownst to Kari, the place where our people gathered for all their meetings. My father was an expert player, and soon Kari was playing the strangely haunting sounds well, urging the foreign music from the depths of the ancient instrument. A few hours later, my mother came downstairs, worried. "Daren, there's someone here to see you. He claims that it's urgent." Following quickly behind her was a man, tall and fair. His hair was a very pale color, white-blonde, and his eyes were a blue just as pale, a color that seemed to pierce the soul of whoever had the misfortune to fall upon their gaze. Kari looked up too.

"Oh," said the man, in a gentle, but deep, voice, "Forgive me. I did not realize you had company, Daren." He was looking in Kari's direction. Sensing somehow that she was not completely welcome, she said, "Thank you for the lesson, sir, but I have to be going." She went up the stairs, bowing respectfully to the man. His coloring meant he could be only one thing: a white viper, a representative of the Obsidian.

He watched Kari go with enigmatic eyes, note quite cold, but resenting.

"Daren, there is much I need to talk with you about, not the lest of which is that girl! I admire that you adhere to the ancient arts of the Dance, but to teach our most sacred instrument to a human girl? Be ashamed, Daren!" It was then that I realized who this man must be.

Although they swear no allegiance to the serpent Diente, most white vipers would have more respect, but this man spoke to my father like an unruly child. That, and the way he carried himself, regal, proud in this broken world of broken dreams, told me he was no lowly viper, but the leader of the Obsidian himself: Var. My father often spoke of him, talking about a time when he was just a cobra child, and had seen a boy playing in the street. Though the Obsidian consists mostly of street people, Var was special – abandoned by a human mother when his true form showed, his father had been a criminal, imprisoned by human justice for acts unspeakable. Left to die, he had been raised among a group of human orphans, welcomed by the Guild but not trusted. Using his wits, he eventually rose to be leader of the Guild, but his friendship with my father has never been lost. I could tell he was hurt by my father's act.

"Please," I spoke up. "Sir, it was my fault. I asked for her to play, to help me with something I am planning. It takes two to make cloth, sir," I said, repeating an old serpiente saying, "one to weave the fabric and another to build the loom." He smiled.

"I am sorry, Lady," he said. Unlike my father, the Obsidian recognizes my ancestor's heritage, and so are obliged to respect me. "If you believe this human ally can help your throne, then so be it. But remember, they are not ready for the truth. They cannot face it; it would only lead to suffering for your people."

"I know, sir. I'm just doing what I feel is right. If I can forge one bond that will allow us to save this broken world, then I am willing to do all I can to do so, and maybe, one day, Wyvern's Court will again exist in more than our ancestors' memories." I saw those eerie blue eyes gain newfound respect for me, and he nodded, turning back to my father. "Daren," he said again. "There is another matter I came here to see you about; one that has an impact for all our peoples." He took a deep breath, as if reluctant to tell what this news was.

"Humans have found the ruins of Wyvern's Court."


	2. Chapter 2: A Meeting and a Friend

A/N: Hihi. Sorry this took so long - a four-day flu got the better of me... Anyway, beware of slight fangirl-ness in later part, I hope I succeeded in taking the bulk of it out of the story. I don't own the movie in question, only a copy of it that I paid fifteen bucks for.

* * *

The words went through the room like a shockwave, the news falling from Var's lips like a signature on our doom. My mother stood there, her features masked with the reserve of her people. I knew that she only practiced Avian reserve in the worst of circumstances – I had only even seen it in her once before, at my grandfather's funeral. My father had instinctively taken up a guard position, and he radiated anger with a core of fear. I just stood there in shock.

"How?" my father asked. "When?"

Var shook his head. "The winds of time revealed one of the buildings. The people living in the area around saw it. A dig has started to unearth our tragic past."

My father shook his head, stepping down, but still tense. "They will never figure it out," he said calmly. "There is no reason to suspect they will. Our culture, maybe, but never our secret." He sounded like he was denying the inevitable. Var looked grave.

"That's not the least of our worries," he said. "My people are divided into many factions; it is all I can do to restrain the most radical ones. They think we should kill the humans and sabotage the dig. They will not listen to reason."

My father calmed a bit, still worried but more comfortable. Dealing with radicals and keeping our secret was a task he knew well. Back in his own element, he nodded. "We need to call a Council," he said at last. "Tonight."

The Viper leader nodded back. "My people will spread the message." He turned and left, walking back the way he came. My father and I went to work, preparing the basement for a meeting of our people.

I looked around the room at all of the faces. Any who could make it had come. All were wearing their Demi forms, identifying them. On one side of the circle, my eyes were met by glistening scales in many shades of brilliant color, grees and reds joined by the occasional white. On the other I saw feathers, wings in more muted tones like browns and golds and blacks. Their faces all held similar expressions, however; worry and fear washed through the room. Some of the older avians were masked, hiding their feelings from the serpents across the room.

My father cleared his throat and the rom went silent. "This meeting of the combined peoples of serpents and avians, the descendants of the land of Wyvern's Court, is now begun.

"As many of you have doubtless heard, our news today is grave. Humans have discovered our land." A combined murmur of shock and uneasy affirmation whispered through the room. "The leader of the Obsidian can tell you more than I can. Var?"

Nodding, the viper rose. His half-form was stunning, ivory scales covering his body like armor. His already shocking eyes shone like jewels as he addressed our people. "The news is true," he stated simply. "A dig has already begun. Mrs. Rune, the famous archaeologist, is leading the team." My father's eyes went to the viper, as did those of everyone in the room. The news was indeed shocking, but it was actually good news – Carmen Rune was one of the best, and advocated for the treatment of artifacts recovered from digs. Her son also went to my school. She was very much respected by our community, and rumor had it that she was a human informant of the Obsidian. I'd pump her son for details at school.

The meeting continued, decisions being made about what to do about the dig. Official policy was to let the dig be, but I could tell that there would be a representative of the Obsidian around the dig site at all times, subtly altering the flow of information and weighing every discovery.

A few hours later, the meeting was adjourned. Yawning, I went upstairs to my room. Surrounded by my belongings, I settled into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

The phone rang in my ear on Saturday, waking me from fitful dreams. I picked it up. "Uh?" I grunted into it.

"Hi, Krystal!" said a voice on the other end. I glanced at the clock.

"Kari, it's 10 in the morning on a /Saturday/," I mumbled, still a little groggy.

"I know, but I got up early this morning. I have a movie you have just GOT to see."

"At 10 in the morning?"

"Come on, Krystal, it's AWESOME..."

"Fine, fine, but don't expect me until noon." I hung up, and groaned. My best friend just _had_ to be a morning person, didn't she? Groaning, I got up and began to change into some clean clothes.

Two hours later, I rang the doorbell of her nice, two-story brick house. Her mother opened the door. "Hello, Krystal," she said, polite as ever, but as always, I got the distinct idea that she didn't approve of me. My father says that his people can sense emotions, so I figure that my slight empathic abilities are just 'snake-sense,' as he calls it. Whatever it is, I nodded politely at Mrs. Yamata and walked into her living room.

"Kari!" I called out. "I'm here!" A few moments of thuds leater, she appeared from her upstairs room.

"Hi, Krystal. Remember that movie I got a few days ago?"

I paused, thinking. "Advent-something?" I asked. She nodded.

"That's the one. Anyway, there's a character in it that I think you'd like." She walked back up without another word. Inwardly, I sighed. Kari became a huge fangirl of anything coming from Japan after her Japanese uncle came to stay in the states for a while, and she usually drags me into it. I sensed this was another of those times. I walked up the stairs, careful not to trip – they were steep. Opening the door to her room, I found her plugging in her Playstation. I don't have one, mostly because I don't really have anywhere to put it. My room is mostly filled with bookshelves, and the basement is the dancing area, where any small object is a hazardous obstacle.

Pulling out a DVD box, Kari inserted it into the player. Looking at the box, I noticed that it was, indeed, another anime film. CGI, yes, but still anime. I sat down and prepared myself for the lecture.

"You see, Krystal," Kari started, "this is actually a sequel to one of THE best games ever to hit market, and it has parts where anyone who had not played this game of games," she beamed and I knew that she had, "would generally wonder what they were talking about without explanation…" I tuned her out, waiting for the movie to stop loading. Finally, it did and we were hit head-on with the sound from the menu. I mean it, the _menu_. I sighed, getting ready for a looong day.

* * *

About two hours later, credits rolled. Kari turned it off, turned toward me, and smiled. "What did you think of that, Krystal?"

"It was… good," I said. The plot had been wonderful, and the graphics were amazing, but I still couldn't get it out of my mind. Something about that image had stuck with me, the first time I looked up and found myself staring into garnet eyes the color of blood – Kari was right. I did have to see that. "That man, Vincent," I said. "What was his story?"

Kari nodded. "I thought you'd notice him. He was imprisoned by a mad scientist who experimented on him. In him are bound the four spirits of Chaos, with Chaos being the strongest." Her explanation chilled me. Garnet eyes, ebony hair… those were the marks of a Cobriana. And if Chaos… but no. How could anyone know our secret? Not even most serpents knew what had truly happened those many thousands of years ago. It is one of the secrets that we have lost, one of the things too few care to recall.

We are dying, I thought to myself once more.

But how could a human get so close to our myths and legends? Did they know? Or is it that black and red are the universal colors of chaos and flame? I pushed these concerns to the back of my mind as Kari and I turned to other things.

* * *

Going home that afternoon, my mind was heavy with questions spawned by that one image. I sighed. Bike-riding wasn't going to help this time. I looked up at the beautiful sky, warm and inviting, and wheeled my bike to a secluded parking lot, behind a closed-down store. Leaning it against the wall, I changed form, letting the sky welcome me as her own.

The wind flowed through my feathers, the sun beat down on y outstretched wings. It is impossible to describe the wonder of flight to anyone who is landbound, and those who aren't have no need of it's description. The sky welcomed me in its embrace, and for a moment my entire world consisted of the wind, the sun, nature's beauty in its entirety, whole and pure.

I looked down over the world, watched birdwatchers marvel at me, saw the crowds of humanity bustling about their day. The world makes sense, to a hawk in flight – it is the busy little humans that make none. Sometimes I feel sorry for them, because they are landbound and cannot see the world from above, cannot look down at it like it is yours. Other times, I am saddened by them – they have to live in a world with no wonder, a world that is crippled. Yet, for some reason, I have never found it in me to hate them, no matter what they did to our people. It was not these humans who had driven us into hiding, but others, people who existed so long ago that very few now remember their names. The human world had forgotten us.

Returnin to the parking lot, I shifted back, calmed by my flight. Flying gives me a philosophical view on things. Picking up my bike, I rode back to my home, no longer thinking about the events of that troubling day.

* * *

Two days later, I was standing at the bus stop, groggy, cold, and a little sluggish. Climbing onto the bus, I sat down next to Kari.

"Hey, Krystal," she greeted me.

"Meh," I grunted.

"You look lively today."

"Nuh."

She sighed. "Look, about Saturday," she began.

"Eh?"

She laughed. "You look really tired."

"Nyeh. Now, Saturday?" I knew she was changing thesubject.

"Saturday. Right. Well, the movie seemed to upset you. I'm sorry," she said.

"It's alright," I replied. I meant it. "Just, that Vincent character creeped me out a bit. He reminded me so much of this person I know."

"Really?" she asked, curious. "Who?" Pausing, she said, "Oh, that Kan person?"

I looked at her. Kan was an offshoot of the Cobriana line, daughter of the daughters of Hai, or _Hai'ra_.

I nodded. "She's not that bad, once you get to know her, but she's extremely creepy." Kari nodded.

The bus stopped again, and a boy got on. His eye were sharp and clever, and although he seemed to be your average juvenile delinquent – all black, chains, multiple ear piercings – I knew him well enough to know that his mind was as well-exercised as his body.

"Hey, Akihito," Kari said. We both groaned at her nickname for him.

"Don't mind her, Ari." Strangely enough, Ari stands for nothing. That's just his name. I usually call him Lion, but he didn't seem to be in the mood. He sat down in the seat across the aisle from us, and we started talking.

When we arrived at school, Lion and I parted ways with Kari. He turned to me and said, "You know, she can really get on my nerves sometimes. I smiled. "Yeah, she can be annoying," I agreed. "So tell me, Lion, what's new today?" He laughed.

"Why do you always call me Lion?" he asked.

"That's what you look like," I said in reply. "It's also your _name_," I pointed out. Entering our Language Arts class, we took our seats, right next to each other.

"No, that's what my name means," he replied, teasingly. "Two different things." He shrugged. "You seem to be an expert on dead languages.

_Being the last princess of a dying ancient race will do that to you,_ I thought. I shrugged. "Whatever," I said. "Anyway, your mother couldn't have picked a better name. Strong, yet cunning, you are brave as a lion." He chuckled, and then the teacher came in. Late bell rang, signifying the start of yet another Monday.


	3. Chapter 3: History and Knowledge

A/N: OHMIGOD GUYS I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO FRIGGIN' LONG! Please forgive me, all of you who are still reading! My inspiration took a nosedive in the middle of this story, the friend who inspired it and I stopped being friends (and got back in touch), I got a new boyfriend, I entered my junior year of high school, I started roleplaying a lot... man, it's been one thing after another! But I know that that's no excuse... Still, I'm glad to be back! All this needed was a little editing as of a month ago and it finally got edited, though not really to the extent that I'd like... *sigh* Oh well! Here's chapter 3, where interesting things start to happen...

* * *

A long time ago, Kiesha'ra'shm'Ahnmik'la'Hai, also known as the One Who Dances With Fate, spun prophecy after prophecy of the doom that would come when a Wyvern child was born of my blood. In her youth, she would destroy Wyvern's Court, finally bound into madness by the falcons, who took every other heir away to their island in the waves. Fate, however, prevented this cruel circumstance. Oliza Shardae Cobriana took a female mate and abdicated, saving our land. Many battles with Fate were fought afterwards, but in the end, Salem Cobriana, son of Irene Cobriana, nephew to Zane Cobriana, succeeded his cousin as Diente of the serpiente people, and Sive Shardae, daughter of Nacola Shardae, sister of Danica Shardae, succeeded her niece as Tuuli Thea of the Avians. Oliza and Betia, her wolf mate, went to live on the outskirts of Wyvern's Court with the Obsidian Guild after the abdication. When Velyo Frektane, leader of Betia's people, became so paranoid his allies were forced to kill him, they took over as leaders of the wolves. Adopting a son, an orphaned wolf cub they named Conall, as their heir, they lived in peace for a long time.

Then, for some reason, Oliza was called back. Called upon by Hai, she took her rightful place as rulers of the Court, leaving Conall to rule his tribe. Even now, the wolves owe us allegiance. Knowing that the Court would never accept a wolf as king, Oliza married Vere Obsidian to produce an heir. Their daughter they named Keyi, or hope, and Nicias, a Falcon of Ahnmik, now powerful enough, bound her magic to keep her from killing everyone in the court. His binding would not hold forever, though, so on her sixteenth birthday, after her daughter was born, they executed her in order to protect themselves. It seems cruel by today's standards, but back then, my people did what they had to in order to survive. Many generations later, a wyvern named Athalindi left on the eve of her sixteenth birthday, only to return with the ability to control her gift. None know where she went, but she has saved the lives of her line and will always be remembered.

RING! RING!

The bell jerked me out of my thoughts and I moved to pack up. I heard a laugh behind me, and Lion said, "Lost in some far-off world again, Krystal?" He shrugged. "Hey, no big deal. You're not the first one to sleep through last period math. Speaking of which, where's that no-good brother of mine?"

"Funny," said a voice from behind us, "but I was about to say the exact same thing." Turning to bow toward me, he said, "Alex Rune, at your service, milady." I smiled. Where Lion was fair, his brother was just the opposite. His black hair was worn in a loose ponytail, and his eyes were a shade of blue-green most people couldn't achieve without contacts. His eyes reminded me of those of a character Kari was always raving about, Axel or something. He could draw you in with a natural charisma that was on the edge of dangerous; people tended to listen when Alex talked. His cunning way with words made him the natural choice for a politician. Fortunately, he had no interest in ruling or power. The Obsidian was quite glad of that – he was also far too intelligent for his own good. For now, I just curtsied back. Lion snorted.

"Come on, Alex, it's not like she's some princess or whatever. Stop sucking up to her already."

"But surely, a maiden so fair _must_ be royalty. Therefore, 'tis only reason that I should treat her as such." He flashed a wonderful smile at me, and I noticed that his backpack was slightly bulkier than normal at the same time his over-excitement registered on my sixth sense.

_You have no idea, _I thought.

"Ren fair or con?" I asked.

"Fantasy gaming convention a few towns away this Friday. I'm breaking out my new cavalier character. How could you tell?" he asked.

"I have my ways," I said. Lion just rolled his eyes.

"Not like it was very hard, considering the fact that you've been sickeningly witty these past few days," he said. His brother stuck his tongue out at him. Alexander Rune had been my friend for almost as long as Lion had, and they both had something in common between them: they were the sons of the famous archaeologist, Carmen Rune. As such, they were important right now. "Hey Alex," I said, knocking them out of their rivalry.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I heard your mom was working on a new dig. Is that the case?" I asked, and he nodded.

"I don't know how you found out, though," he replied. "Mom's made that top secret. The only thing the public knows is what _she_ decides to tell them, and as far as I know, there haven't been any releases yet."

I nodded, gold-brown eyes flashing mischievously. "My father has his sources."

"Ahhhh," he said. "The businessman with mysterious ways."

I snorted. "Mysterious, no. Secret, yes," I said. "He works with the government, it's not like he can come out and say what all he does." I shook my head. "Anyway, I was just curious as to how it was going. Have they found any mention of what it was called?"

He shook his head. "No. As of yet, they can't read the writing, and it's even harder because a slightly different alphabet is used on the other side of the town." He shrugged. "It's almost like there were two societies living there. Maybe the capital of an empire or something?"

"That's what Mom thinks anyway," Lion said. Lowering his voice, he added, "The creepy part is that nowhere in any of the records of the societies near there did we find any mention of that city. It's almost like it was wiped off the face of the Earth, or worse, like it never existed."

It sent chills down my spine, hearing him say that. My homeland, forgotten and destroyed by the very people who now sought to raise it from the dust. My best friend's mother was now the enemy of my people. Maybe not officially, but the very act of trying to discover it would make many see her with distrust, no matter how sensitive she was.

"What information do you have?"

"Well," said Alex, "the evidence for the two-culture theory is amazing: the writings we've found indicate that the different sides of the city spoke two different dialects, or wrote in them anyway, although they share certain symbols. There's a giant mural that's been uncovered at the center of town where the market was, combining two symbols we've seen frequently." At my look, he asked, "What is it?" My hand rose instinctively to my left shoulder. He nodded. "Your tattoo. I've been wondering about that myself."

"The woman said it meant fate," I said.

Lion jumped in. "The religion seems to have been animalistic - snakes on the east, birds on the west. At the center, there's a large statue of a woman becoming some kind of winged serpent. Maybe that was evidence of the blending of the two cultures."

I smiled a bit. As long as they were thinking the snake/bird connection was a religion, we would be okay. _I wonder how they'll explain the architecture_, I thought.

"The architecture also reflects this," Lion continued. "On the western side, the buildings are taller, generally having more than one level but fairly small laterally. On the east, the buildings are wider, with larger floor plans but keeping mostly to one level." He smiled. "Snakes and birds."

"That sounds like the team's done quite a bit of excavation," I said, a little worried.

"They've been working for months," said Alex. "For some reason, Mom wanted to keep this a secret for a lot longer than usual. The first press release was supposed to be tomorrow."

Chalk another piece of evidence up to the theory that Carmen Rune knows more about us than most of us realize. Gotta love Vipers.

"Even creepier than the whole 'no record of it' thing," Lion said, "is the fact that bodies are being found everywhere. In the streets, in buildings… Mom thinks there was some kind of war, but, it was more of a slaughter, people being wiped out by the hundreds." He shook his head. "I've seen pictures of the skeletons, buried by the dirt with their metal and scraps of cloth. One building was full of people in garments woven with metallic thread, with daggers still embedded in the bodies of their attackers."

"The Dancer's Nest," I whispered.

"Did you say something?"

I shook my head. "Go on," I replied.

Alex picked it up. "We went there, once, before they made it to ground level. You know, I think Mom's gotten herself in too deep, this time," he said unexpectedly, goaded on by the Cobriana light in my hawk's eyes. "There's this guy who works the dig, with really pale blonde hair and eyes that are impossible. They're even more outrageous than mine - a pale blue-green, almost as white as the white of his eyes. That wouldn't be bad, it's actually a real eye color, but…" He shuddered. "They glow, almost, and there's something really creepy in them. There've been others like him, on other digs, but this time, he'll go talk to my mom when no one's looking, and when I asked her, she said she didn't know who he worked for, or what their interest was, but they were really concerned about the dig. The next day, she acted like she didn't remember a word of it."

_Vipers. I thought so_, I thought.

* * *

(Alex's POV)

_Why did I tell her that?_ I wondered as Ari looked at me in shock. Krystal nodded, satisfaction showing on her face, even as she looked at me, concerned. She had always shown her emotions openly, and as I looked back at her, I couldn't help but remember the pictures I had seen of the murals on the wall of what was believed to be the temple of the unnamed city, murals of men and women in brightly-colored garb, dancing strange rituals with snakes at their feet. Murals stained with blood, yet somehow, preserved.

I shook my head, trying to clear it.

"Are you okay?" Krystal asked, sounding worried.

When I looked up, something other than her looked back at me. Garnet eyes, framed by brown-and-black hair, glowing with an eldritch light. They were so cold, they burned, and I froze like a mouse caught in the gaze of a deadly cobra. I closed my eyes and shook my head again, and when I opened them Krystal was back to normal. "I've been working too hard," I mumbled.

* * *

(Krystal POV)

He did look tired, but I didn't think it was because he was working too hard that he seemed out of it.

"Hey, Alex, maybe you should get more sleep," Lion said. "You really look beat." All joking exteriors aside, Lion and his brother were really close.

He didn't just look beat – he looked freaked. Something weird had just happened, at least, from his point of view. "What happened, Alex?" I asked.

"N-nothing…" he said evasively. "I… I'm seeing things."

_Seeing things?_ I wondered. _What things?_

The bus pulled up at that exact moment, cutting off my thoughts. Dumb bus.

The three of us boarded, and the bus pulled out of the parking lot, leaving nothing but unanswered questions.


	4. Chapter 4: Echoes of A Dream

A/N: OH MY GOD. Two chapters in a row where I have to seriously apologize. However, I have made a bit of a New Year's resolution to come back to this story. As such, there's a few things I want to mention, but I'll wait 'till the end of the chapter.

* * *

That night, I dreamed, once again, of Wyvern's Court. This time, however, it wasn't a peaceful, pleasant dream of a market day, or of the Dancer's Nest, where skilled performers told ancient stories with the beauty of their bodies…

_I stood, clutching someone I couldn't quite see, holding him for dear life. His arms wrapped around me, seeming to promise me safety, but the sights we saw were far, far, far too horrid for that. The Court Wyverns surrounded us, their gleaming armor dulled with blood, and despite their poisons, despite their wings and feathers and scales, boas and sparrows and crows and pit vipers fell to the mundane steel of human blades, and their leader faced me, his eyes dead as the bodies he left in his wake._

_The person holding me shoved me behind him, a sword rattling from his sheath. I cried out a name that I couldn't quite hear over the clashing of blades as he charged that terrible, terrible human warlord. His hair was white, but he was young – I'd been cradled in the arms of a white viper._

_My own eyes filled with tears, and I cried out again, for I knew that the viper was no match for that terrible, cold man's soulless blade. He wore the uniform of the Wyverns' captain, but my heart said he was even more than that. They clashed, sword to sword, man against man, and ivory scales swarmed over my protector's skin._

_They weren't enough. My protector faltered, tired, and the cold man took his chance. A great sword plunged into the viper's heart._

"_NOOOOOO!" I cried, and felt a burst of heat come through me, the trademark flames of a wyvern's power…._

"NOOOO!" I cried out, shooting straight out of bed. Sweating, shaking, I felt the scales of my Demi form begin to recede as the nightmare lost its grip on me. I closed my eyes again, feeling tears as well slip down my face. The dream had been real – and I'd been beginning to dream more and more with the passing weeks. I didn't want to think about the possible meaning of that – time enough to deal with it if it actually happened.

* * *

(Kari)

I woke up with a start. I couldn't understand why; I'd been having an amazing dream. Akihito was there – it's _always_ a good dream when Akihito is there – and Krystal. She'd looked worried, but Krystal always looks worried these days. Alex, too. All four of us were together, and we were talking about something important, and then… I don't really remember what next, except that Krystal was dancing. But, it wasn't just Krystal. Krystal started, and then there had been all sorts of people, dressed in ancient clothing, dancing a dance that told a story, an ancient story, and someone was playing the flute that Krystal and Mr. Cobren were teaching me to play, and I heard someone speaking in a language that I didn't know, but I'd heard Krystal speak occasionally. I had been about to figure the story out, about to make some kind of important realization, when…

I looked down at my hands.

When Krystal had screamed. And I woke up with a start. And there had been fire…

I shook my head. Too much Final Fantasy before bed, I decided; The Dance and Kilika Dusk weren't the greatest cutscenes ever to watch before going to sleep. I checked my alarm clock; three hours until school would call, so I put my head back on my pillow and was snoring within minutes.

* * *

(Ari)

My eyes came open, and I lay still in bed, inspecting the far wall.

It wasn't the first time I'd had a dream about Mom's dig, and it wasn't going to be the last, I knew that. I knew a lot more about the ugly sides of archaeology than most people – heard firsthand the descriptions of what Mom found, saw the pictures of skeletons that had been killed however long ago the city had been destroyed. Still, it was weird, because Mom's most recent project had something different about it, something I couldn't quite lay my finger on.

I heard a stifled cry of pain from the room next to me, and I threw off the covers. I knew Alex's voice, and I knew when he was in trouble. Quietly, I slipped from my room and into his.

Alex had reacted almost more strongly than I had when Mom started sending letters about the things that her team was discovering in the ruins of what she'd jokingly started calling The Forgotten City. He's always been the more sensitive of the two of us, but something about the pictures haunted him; Dad didn't really notice, but Dad doesn't know Alex as well as I do. Sad, but true.

I pulled open his door and quickly closed it behind me as I entered his room. It was disorganized, as always, but I didn't even notice.

Alex's bed was a mess; it looked like he'd been tossing and turning all night. I could see sweat standing on his brow, his sheets were tangled around him in a disheveled mess, and his hair looked damp, again probably from sweat. Still asleep, he let another wordless cry, and flung himself over, almost falling. He looked like he was in physical pain.

"Alex!" I cried, running over to where he was sleeping. I put a hand on his shoulder, and tried to shake him awake.

* * *

(Alex)

_Flames. The city was in flames. Someone was behind me, crying out in choking sobs, her hands tugging me backwards, backwards, but I could not retreat. Blood stained the intricate murals on the walls, and the enemy just kept pouring into the Nest. I cut down so many, trying to protect that sobbing, desperate presence behind me; it was my sworn duty, my sole purpose, elementally focused on that moment. I found myself cornered._

_Cold eyes. Dead eyes. Empty, grey eyes that bored into mine, and then I was fighting, fighting, fighting. The city was in flames around us, the colorful silks burning, and if we didn't leave, we'd be burned alive as well, and dead eyes didn't care. Those eyes sent shivers through me and my sword fell to the ground as they pulled away my guard. I could hear a voice screaming my name, and a blade pierced through my skin, my strange skin that wasn't really mine._

"_ALEX!" screamed the voice, and I looked up into garnet eyes._

"_Alex!" the voice called again, _only it was different, somehow.

"ALEX!"

I grabbed the wrist that was reaching for me, only to realize that at that last moment, I'd snapped awake. I wasn't looking into red eyes anymore; instead, the gaze I met was Ari's slightly-panicked, much more normal brown one.

I sighed, then took a deep breath. I let go of his wrist.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Ari said. "And you were yelling in your sleep."

Trust Ari to be succinct. I shook my head, sitting up – something that was a little difficult, because I'd managed to tangle myself pretty thoroughly in my sheets. "Yeah," I agreed halfheartedly.

"What was the nightmare about?" he asked me. I looked up, sighed, looked back down. "Don't wanna talk about it?"

It's weird. Even though he's a year and a half younger than I am, Ari and I are incredibly close, sibling rivalry or no. Most guys would have issues telling their little brothers about bad dreams; for me, it's comforting. It could have something to do with the fact that we're only half-brothers, and Ari's dad and I just aren't close; I don't have a dad to talk things out with, so I turn to Ari instead. I don't know. That's just how it is.

"It' s not that I don't want to talk about it. I just can't find the right words…" I closed my eyes; the images felt like they were burned into the back of my mind. "I think it was that city Mom's digging up. And I dreamed… about the day it was destroyed."

Ari was silent; I oened my eyes and looked back at him; he'd sat down on the bed, and was now giing me an incredibly odd look.

"What?"

He paused a moment. "I dreamed about that place too," he said. "I'd just woken up when I heard you cry out." He looked inquiringly at me. "What did you see?"

"Everything was burning…" I shivered. It had been so… _real_. "People were fighting. There was a war, just like Mom said there had been. And everything, everything, was on fire. I was… I was protecting someone. And there was a battle, and I… lost…"

It wasn't an uncommon dream for me, really, to be losing something. Someone I cared about, something important, even my own life. They'd been a lot more common when I was a little kid, but they still popped up every so often. I always woke up from one of them feeling as if I had lost some important part of myself along with whatever I had lost in the dream. I didn't mention the red eyes I'd been looking into as I had died… or the feeling of _wrongness_, as if throughout the entire dream, I'd been missing something incredibly obvious, as if something hadn't been quite right about the people I'd been fighting.

Ari put his hand on my shoulder. "Another one of those dreams, huh?" I nodded.

"Yeah."

He patted the shoulder he held. "Hey, it'll be okay," he said. "Just a dream, right?"

I smiled weakly. "Yeah… just a dream." But there was part of me, a big part, that was worried that that wasn't true at all. The whole thing had just felt too real… far too real.

"Now, go back to sleep, okay, man? School comes early tomorrow, and you don't want to miss your huge convention on Friday because you pass out from exhaustion."

I laughed. Somehow, Ari always knows what to say. "Okay. You too, Squirt."

"Hah, hah, very funny." He shoved me a little bit, and then stood up. "Night, Alex."

"Night, Ari."

I closed my eyes, lay back on the bed. But no matter how much I tried to get rid of it, the image of flames consuming that beautiful, peaceful city was etched onto my brain.

* * *

_A/N: Okay, here's a better place. First of all, A/Ns are now in italics. Big change. Anyway, here we got to see a little bit from every major supporting character - I hope that the break in viewpoints was refreshing, as it was for me._

_We're going to end up seeing quite a bit more of that, actually, as the story goes on; during some events, it'll be incredibly important to show what each character is thinking, or even what certain characters at thinking, at a given moment or moments in time._

_This chapter ended up being quite a bit different than originally intended, but it serves largely as foreshadowing for future events. I'm interested to know what your ideas as to what's going to hapen next are, since I've packed quite a bit in. Some interesting character information was also divulged - such as the fact that Ari and Alex are only half-brothers, as well as the fact that Alex and his stepfather aren't entirely close - and we got a better look into the inside of the two brothers' relationship. Despite rocky relations with the person who originally inspired him, I have no qualms divulging the information that Alex is my favorite character, so I'm glad I got to portray him a bit more in this chap.  
_

_I hope you can forgive the lack of updates. See you next chapter. ~Miri  
_


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